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Life in the Fast Lane

By Ben Meisner

At one time it was a common joke (and warning) that if your travelled through some small towns in the southern USA there was a good chance you would get a ticket.  It would be  written out by  a cop who  would hide behind a sign just as the speed zone changed.  The officer would make not only his own living,  but a goodly portion of the town’s income, handing out speeding tickets. 

We all used to say just how awful that scenario was, but, it seems here in Prince George, we are doing the same thing. 

The areas of the highest accident rate are at the major intersections of the city. That is a fact, even ICBC will tell you, areas of major accidents receive little attention. Why? Well it is much easier to set up radar along the by-pass, hide in the trees and get those pesky speeders on their way to work or simply trying to merge with traffic.  

You can set up along Foothills, the area isn’t known for its traffic accidents but it certainly is a great spot to fill those coffers with money that is being equally split between city and province, afterall,  that stretch of road has FOUR different speed zones. 

How about the Pulp Mill road?  Great spot to get Joe worker heading off to work. 

There are a host of areas in the city where radar cars function.  Many of those locations do not reflect the accident stats but rather are “hot spots “ to make some money. 

You rarely see police officers ticketing drivers who  for example; fail to yield in the merge zones, or drivers who blow through the lights where most accidents occur. 

You may notice the seat belt law fine has also been  increased. I would never suggest you drive without being buckled up, but why the increase in the fine to $150 bucks?   There are many people out there who partake in sports and other activities which put their life in danger, but  they don’t get fined for carrying on now do they?  Seat belt use (in this case lack of it) is a great money maker for the city coffers. 

There was a time when cigarette tax formed an important part of the provincial budget, but as people have butted out, governments have looked around for new and innovative ways to get some new cash without increasing taxes.  So we now have a police force that has entered the tax collecting business. When you write a ticket and your office receives one half of the money collected to be forwarded to the city coffers, it isn’t long before you can justify what you are doing. 

We used to think it was a joke the way some southern US police officers ticketed unsuspecting motorists in order to raise money for their own salary and community. 

Here in British Columbia that joke is our reality, and it just isn't funny.
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